Margaret Morse on Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:43:15 +0100 (CET) |
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Re: <nettime> Sex Work and Consent at @transmediale |
Dear John, I agree that the mind and the body are flowing and intimately intertwined. I resist the notion that it means that there is no difference at any level and that everything just flows. When I distinguished writing "inane academic" papers from sex work or prostitution, I was thinking of the effects of daily physical effort that tests the body's endurance; even wealthy athletes are not spared the effects of such abuse. i grew up around people who were laborers; when I attend my highschool reunion, I can tell the laborers by how greatly they have aged compared to those with less arduous lives. It may be hard to erase the effects of poverty and malnutrition from burdensome labor; nonetheless, the corporeal marks of being "working class" are unmistakeable. I think it is only consistent and fair to concede that people who labor with their bodies are likely to suffer other and different long term effects than someone who suffers from (his own) bad writing. I would concede the respect I as an academic I owe to people who labor to prostitutes as well. To be honest, I wonder how much the stigma attached to prostitution that makes it free game for disrespect has shaped this thread on nettime. Living precariously is hard and certainly involves intellectual as well as physical deprivation, whatever is going on neurally. I also respect my colleagues who (barely) live this way and nonetheless make unique contributions to their community. I also know (perhaps like Carl and Morlock) that writing involves corporeal suffering. For many years I wrote standing up, but that became too hard. Recently I finally got a special stool with a mobile seat . Bingo! Thinking, whatever anguish it causes, is a pleasures that make me feel alive. It is NOT being able to think, e.g. depression, that is truly painful, at least for me. Susanne recommended a book by Catherine Malabou--What Shall We Do with Our Brain?-- that I find provocative. It makes me responsible for shaping my brain and forging new pathways that do not simply allow me to better fit into the expectations of academic institutions, corporations or global capitalism. Rather than passively accept genetic proclivities to deprssion and late onset dementia, I feel like becoming an artist shaping my own capacity for thought and action. Sorry if I have still missed or misunderstood your point. I am hoping you understand mine. Best wishes, MM On Feb 12, 2012, at 11:03 AM, John Hopkins wrote: <...> # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org